Labor of Love
Every year over Labor Day weekend, my brothers Robert and Bennett make the trek down from Missouri to Texas.
When they’re here, we usually write a song or two and record it. Sometimes our other brothers and sisters join us and we make it a family thing.
Larry Seyer
It has become both a wonderful ritual and a Labor of Love. How fitting! A Labor of Love over Labor Day weekend!
This year, we turned on the Electric LarryLand studio camera and shared our writing efforts with all of you.
The result was great fun and a new song to share with all of you.
So here it is; Our Labor of Love for 2009… a song entitled “The Singer is the Song”.
Enjoy!
-=- Lyrics -=-
(Larry)
a hammer for nails
a pill for what ails
a map to show direction
a mirror for reflection
(Bennett)
but what to feed the hunger
remaining from the younger?
it says the answer’s out there
and so we focus out…where?
chorus: (Bennett)
there is no thing to tie you (hey)
no need to look outside you (hey)
it’s hidden as a treasure (hey)
much more than you can measure (hey)
it’s waiting deep inside you (hey)
and been there all along (hey)
and once you right the wrong (hey)
the singer is the song (hey)
(Larry)
a beam to light the rails
a wind to fill the sails
a turn of misdirection
a longing for connection
(Anita)
and if we feel the hunger,
remaining from the younger,
that says the answer’s out there
and so we focus out…where?
chorus: (Anita)
there is no thing to tie you (hey)
no need to look outside you (hey)
it’s hidden as a treasure (hey)
much more than you can measure (hey)
it’s patiently inside you (hey)
and been there all along (hey)
and once you right the wrong (hey)
the singer is the song (hey)
bridge: (Robert)
Living within yourself (feel it)
Is a Radiant Being (see it)
Awake from your dream (believe it)
Allow it to sing (be it).
chorus: (Bennett)
there is no thing to tie you (hey)
no need to look outside you (hey)
it’s hidden as a treasure (hey)
much more than you can measure (hey)
it’s patiently inside you (hey)
and been there all along (hey)
and once you right the wrong (hey)
the singer is the song (hey)
Link to the song:
Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work”
I remember when Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work” was released.
Stationed in Fort Leonard Wood Missouri with my first wife Anita and my newly born son Adam, I was driving my green Ford Fairlane 500 towards the trailer park where we lived in St. Roberts.
Thoughts of recording and mixing were running through my mind.
“How did they get that sound?”
It was so cool!
Of course, “Reeling in the Years” was the big hit… but I loved “Dirty Work” for some strange reason.
I thought I was an engineer then. Now I know I didn’t have a clue… but I had immense desire.
Steely Dan Cover
What I lacked in knowledge back then, I made up for in desire. What I lack in desire today, I have replaced with knowledge.
I loved that time in my life… when Steely Dan was something I looked up to.
A standard to reach for and surpass if possible.
Then everything was recorded onto analog tape machines and there was a sense of urgency…
Humans were required to do every step of the process (not counting the physical act of recording).
How different was the recording process compared to today…
Now, humans need only offer their opinions to the machines. They do the work for us.
Perhaps, this is why music is not valued today as much as it was then.
Everyone has the ability to make music themselves. And they do… good and bad.
The fact that there is so much bad music out there does not seem to deter writer’s willingness and desire to make it.
Is that good or bad? Should there be a ceiling to an artists’ endeavors?
Back then, music was a special event… something of value, an education and an experience; a pinnacle.
Today, music is a side show; an after thought. It is everywhere. And it all sounds the same.
Maybe this is is only the ramblings of an older man who has lived the many phases of music’s existence in the 20th century.
But maybe it is at the very least, a version of the truth we all share.
For now, it is my ‘Dirty Work’ to share this with you!
All the best to you!
Larry
Cut and Level Mixing
I received a question from Flash at Flashpoint Studios regarding the differences between adjusting levels in Nuendo.
One way is to use the objects in the arrangement window and raise and lower them there… the other is to use the mixer and raise and lower the levels in the mixer.
Cut and Level Mixing Example (Click to view Full Size)
- First you see the track with no edits as it was recorded
- Then you will see that the vocal track has been “cut” into phrases
- Finally, you will see the vocal phrases have been “leveled” to be more consistant
Here is the difference:
If you raise/lower the level in the arrangement window (i.e. the objects) you are increasing/decreasing the level BEFORE it hits the mixer and the plugins. The advantage of doing this is that you can smooth out the levels before they hit a compressor… in effect making the compressor not work so hard and also making it less likely to hear the compressor work. If you are wanting to NOT hear a compressor work, then this is the best choice.
Neodynium Compressor Plugin
If you raise/lower the level in the mixer, you are changing the levels AFTER the plugins. The advantage of doing this is that you can keep the effect of a compressor working but adjust the level of the sound lower/higher while keeping the compressor effect. If you are WANTING to hear the compressor work, then this is the best choice.
FWIW I always adjust levels in the arrangement window for constant level… then I use the mixer as a simple overall level control.
This generally makes my projects sound like I didn’t use plugins… Which is always a good thing.
Jingle Jangle Christmas
When I was younger (many years ago and more than likely before many of you were even born) I used to dream of being able to play all of the musical parts that I heard in my head onto some kind of mechanism that would play them back as I heard them.
View looking out from my parents house in Missouri
I used to dream about doing this while I lived at my parents house in Missouri.
Sitting in my bedroom, I would listen to the sounds in my head and imagine them being playing all together at once.
It was a dream that would not be realized until many years later when my friend Gary Powell installed a complete MIDI studio in his home and invited me to use it.
Gary let me use his MIDI studio to compose and arrange the sounds that I heard in my head starting in 1986. In fact, I recorded my very first complete MIDI CD at his studio and titled it “Family Portrait”. His generosity is something that I will always be grateful to him for. Words cannot express what that experience did for me and my musical growth.
Electric LarryLand circa 1998
Armed with this knowledge about the capabilities of MIDI and bursting with a desire to own my own MIDI studio, I purchased tons of my own MIDI gear for my use here at Electric LarryLand.
It didn’t take much for me to be inspired enough to write and record songs at my newly equipped MIDI capable studio. I wrote many many tunes during those days.
In 1999, I was inspired to write a Christmas song entitled “Jingle Jangle”. The tune was loosely based on a style similar to Mannheim Steamroller. However, it doesn’t really sound like them at all.
I’ll let you be the judge of what you think it sounds like.
Enjoy!
Jingle Jangle [3:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6589)
Family Portrait CD: Download (138)Cut That EQ!
EQ is an essential part of mixing used in professional audio work.
Most engineers will grab an EQ knob and start turning until it sounds right. And there is nothing wrong with that approach.
Generally, an inexperienced engineer will ‘add’ frequencies in an EQ device in order to make the track sound ‘brighter’ or give it more ‘body’ or any of about 10,000 terms people use to describe what they are wanting.
Example of #39;cutting#39; frequencies
However, an experienced engineer knows that the first place to start with EQ is to ‘cut’ frequencies.
The reason for this is that generally modern tracks are very ‘thick’ sounding and there is too much audio data for the amount of sonic space available. Cutting frequencies tends to ‘clean up’ a mix to allow for tracks to live together in harmony instead of fighting each other for space.
Another good practice is to roll off sub-bass frequencies in order to clean up the low end and make room for the Kick Drum or Bass Guitar.
Hi Pass EQ Example
I do this almost always for anything that might have sub-sonic frequencies that do not really need to be there for the track to sound right.
An example would be a vocal track… rarely (if ever) does the voice produce anything that is usable or necessary in that range. So using a ‘Hi Pass’ filter for vocal tracks is very common practice.
Example Background Vocals EQ setting
Finally, when cutting background vocals, it is a good idea to run them through a common group channel and EQ that group channel so that you conserve the amount of processing done by the audio computer and to place the background vocal parts in an area of the mix that does not compete with the lead vocal or backing tracks.
Notice that I have chosen to use both a ‘Hi Pass’ filter and also a ‘Hi Frequency Shelving’ EQ for the background vocals.
This has the effect of making the background vocals sound very ‘airy’ and keeps them out of the way of the lead vocal and other instruments.
Background Vocals and Tracks
Sony MCI JH-24 Track Analog Tape Machine
It is not unusual to record 24 tracks of instruments when doing a typical pop song.
But it is unusual to record 24 additional tracks of just background vocals. This is what was required for a song that I am currently working on.
In fact, there was so many tracks used on this song, that even when they were minimized in size to their smallest setting, and even keeping them in their respective folders, they would all not fit onto my 1600 x 1200 screen that I am using.
Here is a screen capture of my Nuendo machine with the song loaded. There are tons of tracks.
Screen capture with all of the vocal tracks used.
This simply could not have been done without spending tons of money to go along with the tracks before the advent of digital recording.
Thank goodness for digital!
And to top it all off, everything is being done on one computer. It’s my AMD 64 computer that I got from AMD as an endorsement.
Of course, it’s a very very fast computer, but the fact that it can even be done on one computer now simply amazes me.
I remember when you could only get 24 tracks on a 2 inch tape… and each tape cost $150 and you only got 15 minutes worth of recording on it.
Times have sure changed.
Another view of my Nuendo Screen with All Tracks (click on it to see full size)
Transfer Progress
The transfer from cassettes to computer is going very well.
I’m using an RME MultiFace audio interface to convert the audio into digital form and an older version of Samplitude to record the data onto my laptop computer.
RME Interface
It has come as a complete surprise to me as to how much data I actually have to transfer.
In my mind, I was thinking it was a few cassettes that had original material on them… but so far it has turned out to be over 35 cassettes and there are still more that have not been transferred.
For many years, I recorded ideas onto tape. Sometimes waking up in the middle of the night with an idea and then turning on the cassette recorder to document the idea I had heard in my mind.
Cassette Decks in Rack
Somewhere in the back of my mind I must have known that my writing efforts would have been heard by someone eventually… but my conscious mind did not think about it much. I just recorded whatever the idea was and basically forgot about it once it was on tape.
But thankfully, my years of ideas recordings are starting to pay off. I am using the ideas stored on these tapes as foundations for the songs that David Wilcock and I are using in our new project “Wanderer Awakening”.
It appears that there is enough material to make three or four completely new projects from these ideas. As I stated in an earlier post, this is a gold mine of song ideas on these cassettes.
I can’t wait for you to hear these songs. The chord structures are unique, the rhythms feel good, and the lyrics are embedded with concepts most people do not bother to think about.
Laptop Used to Transfer Recordings
This is truly my life’s calling. But I had not realized this until I started this transfer process. Everything leading up to this process has been about the preparation of these song ideas and their integration into structure that can inspire the listener into inevitable action.
This is a mouthful… I know. But an explanation will be coming.
More to come…
Goodbye Nakamichi
In 1990, when I had more money than common sense, I bought a top-of-the-line cassette deck from Nakamichi for around $1000.
Don’t get me wrong, it is a fantastic and great sounding cassette deck. In fact, in critical listening tests more people could not tell the difference between masters and cassette copies on most common listening environments. (you could using studio monitors, but not in cars)
Nakamichi Cassette deck
Since I have found essentially a gold mine worth of original material recently on cassettes, I have been transferring the material onto a computer while David and I have been working on other things.
Unfortunately, yesterday during one of the transfers, the Nakamichi stopped working. I had barely gotten 5 cassettes done and it was to be no more.
So I called my friend Stan Ginsel and asked to borrow his TASCAM 122 cassette deck.
TASCAM 122 Cassette Deck
Today, we’re gonna hook the TASCAM up and continue the transfers onto the computer.
We’re also writing a new song and will probably be the final full tune for the Wanderer Awakening project.
Monday morning Podcasts
It’s Monday morning and I’m doing my Monday morning podcasts.
It’s something that I’ve been doing for a couple of years now for some companies here in Austin. I can’t tell you who they are or I would have to send Guido after you.
Basically it’s fairly easy and takes a bit of time, but it allows me to start my week off fairly easily while assuring that there is at least some income coming in for the week.
Things to do in the studio today include preparing a computer for mixing which will involve installing software, configuring and testing.
Other than that, it’s an easy day.
Mighty Seek Logo
I’m still having trouble with the podPress plugin for Wordpress. It is not working properly.
It acts like it is working, but none of the podcasts that I put up here show up in iTunes.
I run a Joomla site on my http://www.LarrySeyer.com website and it’s plugin for podcasting is working perfectly… so I’m fairly sure it’s not me.
And the guy that makes the podPress plugin states on his website that users have been complaining about some problems with it… so my guess is that there are problems with the plugin and not the configuration.
Electric LarryLand Pictures
Electric LarryLand studio is located in Austin Texas.
View from Electric LarryLand
Founded in 1995 by Larry Seyer , Electric LarryLand was originally intended as his own project studio.
However, it quickly grew into a full fledged mixing and mastering studio where many Artists have chosen to work.
Here are a few pictures of the studio taken when we remodeled a fews years ago.
Note: Click on the pictures to see a larger image. Computers and Speakers have been updated since these pictures were taken… .
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